The skills of pharmacologists and chemists can help physicians' efforts to treat diseases prominent in aging. The work of the Section is oriented toward these goals. Two problems are studied. One problem involves the cardiovasular system and beta-adrenoceptors which i.a. regulate this system. Studies in that field suggest that compounds with multiple pharmacophores of the antagonist type can effectively block this system for periods an order of magnitude longer than those compounds with a single pharmacophore. This blockade can be shown both in vivo and ex vivo experiments. The joining of several antagonist pharmacophores into one molecules, on the other hand, does not result in the introduction of agonist activity, a change which was observed in the field of peptidic hormones. Another problem studied involves solubilizers for compounds of biomedical interest; from those steroids were studied. Subnormal serum levels of sex hormones is a typical problem of the elderly. Basic research on solubilizers performed in the Section has enabled the development of a practical oral dosage form of these hormones.